Smoker apparatus

ABSTRACT

A smoker apparatus is disclosed that provides a smoker cabinet having upper and lower end portions. The cabinet has a top, a bottom and a side wall or walls and an interior. The cabinet includes a plurality of vertically spaced apart shelves mounted within the cabinet interior. A cabinet door that enables access to the shelves. A gaseous fuel supplied burner element is positioned next to the lower end portion of the cabinet, the burner element being removably connectable to a source of gaseous fuel. A pair of containers is mounted within the cabinet below the shelves and above the burner element. One of the containers is preferably a water container for containing water. The other of the containers being a wood chips container for containing wood chips, wherein the wood chips container is positioned in between the water container and the burner element. A slide bracket supports the containers, the slide bracket positioned generally in between the burner element and the shelves. An access door is provided that is much smaller than the cabinet door, the access door extending vertically a distance at least spanning the vertical dimension of the containers. Either container can be removed laterally from the cabinet at least a partial distance by sliding it laterally upon the slide bracket and at least partially through the access door.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/696,305, filed 4 Apr. 2007(now U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,386), which claims priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/790,453, filed Apr. 6, 2006, all of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

Priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/790,453,filed Apr. 6, 2006, is hereby claimed.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improved smoker apparatus that ispreferably fueled with a gaseous fuel source such as butane or propanesupplied for example via a pressurized cannister, hose and regulator.More particularly, the present invention relates to a smoker apparatusof improved configuration that provides a vertically extended cabinethaving a plurality of shelves for containing food items that are to besmoked, a pair of pans that are mounted under the plurality of shelves,a front door that enables access to the plurality of shelves and a sidedoor that is much smaller than the front door and that is mounted nearthe bottom of the cabinet wherein the side door can be opened to enableaccess to a water pan and a wood chips pan both of which are slidablymounted upon a wire frame having upper and lower spaced apart rails, oneset of rails for supporting the water pan and a lower set of rails forsupporting the pan of wood chips.

2. General Background of the Invention

Many smokers are commercially available that are used for smoking fooditems such as poultry, beef, sausage or the like. Some of these smokersare vertically extended cabinets that have a front door and that havewater pans and wood chip pans for generating smoke during use. Severalsuch vertically extended cabinet type smokers having shelves for holdingfood items can be seen at Cabelas online catalog (www.cabelas.com).

The following U.S. Patents are incorporated herein by reference:

TABLE patent No. TITLE ISSUE DATE 4,721,037 Smoker Apparatus for An Jan.26, 1988 Outdoor Barbecue Grill 4,869,163 Smoking Unit for Gas GrillsSep. 26, 1989 5,163,359 Cooking Apparatus Nov. 17, 1992 5,891,498Barbecue Grill Smoker Apr. 6, 1999 Attachment and Method of Smoking FoodProducts 6,012,381 Convection Meat Cooker Jan. 11, 2000 6,626,089Cooking and Smoking Sep. 30, 2003 Apparatus 2005/0034716 PortableCompact Cooking Feb. 17, 2005 Appliance 2005/0121018 CombinationBarbecue Grill, Jun. 9, 2005 Smoker and Fireplace

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A smoker apparatus provides a smoker cabinet having upper and lower endportions. The cabinet has a top, a bottom and a side wall or walls andan interior.

The cabinet includes a plurality of vertically spaced apart shelvesmounted within the cabinet interior.

A cabinet door that enables access to the shelves.

A gaseous fuel supplied burner element is positioned next to the lowerend portion of the cabinet, the burner element being removablyconnectable to a source of gaseous fuel.

A pair of containers is mounted within the cabinet below the shelves andabove the burner element.

One of the containers is preferably a water container for containingwater. The other of the containers being a wood chips container forcontaining wood chips, wherein the wood chips container is positioned inbetween the water container and the burner element.

A slide bracket supports the containers, the slide bracket positionedgenerally in between the burner element and the shelves.

An access door is provided that is much smaller than the cabinet door,the access door extending vertically a distance at least spanning thevertical dimension of the containers; and

Either container can be removed laterally from the cabinet at least apartial distance by sliding it laterally upon the slide bracket and atleast partially through the access door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages ofthe present invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription, read in conjunction with the following drawings, whereinlike reference numerals denote like elements and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the preferred embodiment ofthe apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the preferred embodimentof the apparatus of the present invention illustrating an alternatesupport for the cabinet in the form of a burner;

FIG. 7 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the preferred embodimentof the apparatus of the present invention illustrating an alternatesupport for the cabinet in the form of a burner;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the apparatus ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective exploded view of another embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-5 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the presentinvention designated generally by the numeral 10. Smoker apparatus 10provides an elongated vertically extended cabinet 11 having an openfront 12 that allows a user to obtain access to a plurality ofvertically spaced apart shelves 21 that are contained within cabinet 11.

The open front 12 can be closed during use with front door 13 which hasa closure latch 30. The cabinet 11 has a bottom panel 16, a top panel17, side panels 18, 19, rear panel 20 and a plurality of legs 15. A ventpipe 14 can be attached to the upper end portion of cabinet 11, such asto top panel 17. An air intake valve 49 can be mounted to the lower endportion of cabinet 11 (see FIG. 1).

In an alternate embodiment (FIGS. 6-7), the legs 15 are replaced with aburner frame 31 that has its own base 32 and legs 33. In the alternateembodiment, the cabinet 11 does not have legs 15 but rests upon theburner frame 31 which also supplies heat via its burner element 37 aswill be described more fully hereinafter.

At the lower end portion of cabinet 11 there is provided a speciallyconfigured slide bracket 29 that supports a pair of containers or pansincluding an upper water container or pan 22 and a lower wood chipscontainer or pan 23. The wood chips pan 23 is preferably provided with aperforated lid 24 having perforations 46 that are sized and shaped toenable smoke to be emitted from the burning chips of wood that areplaced in pan 23 and ignited with a flame so that during use the chipsof wood smoulder and generate smoke as is desirable.

The bottom panel 16 provides an opening 28. A burner element 25 ispositioned immediately below opening 28 so that heat generated by burnerelement 25 rises upwardly via opening 28 to the bottom of wood chips pan23. Heat further rises upwardly and heats the water contained in waterpan 22 and the food to be smoked.

The burner element 25 can be supplied with a gaseous fuel product suchas butane or propane via a fuel supply hose 26 and known regulator thatcan be attached to a commercially available butane or propane containingcannister. Control knob 39 and valve 27 enables the flow of fuel toburner 25 to be opened or closed, enabling the heat generated by burnerelement 25 to be controlled.

In the preferred embodiment, there is a side door 40 attached to sidepanel 19 that is preferably much smaller than the front door 13. Door 40can be a part of side panel 18 or 19 (see FIG. 2). The smaller door 40is of a size that when opened, allows a user to slide either pan 22 or23 laterally through the opening 45 in side wall 18 or 19 that isexposed when the side door 40 is opened (see arrows 47, 48 in FIG. 5).

Each of the pans 22, 23 is supported by a rail or slide part of thebracket 29. The slide bracket 29 features a plurality of verticallyextended specially shaped bars 44 that extend between a lower rail orslide 43 and an upper rail or slide 41. The upper pan 22, preferably awater pan, has a pan shoulder or flange 42 that engages rail 41 so thatthe pan 22 slides upon rail 41 at the flange 42. The lower rail 43 ispositioned inwardly of the upper rail 41 as shown. This enables thelower rail 43 to support the underside of wood chips pan 23 as shown.

As an optional under carriage, burner frame 31 can be substituted inplace of legs 15 (see FIGS. 6-7). In that regard, the burner frame 31has a rectangular or square base 32 comprised of a plurality ofconnected lower beams, legs 33 that extend upwardly from base 32 andcorners 34 that are defined by the legs 33 and upper beams 38.

A wind guard 35 is supported by a plurality of grates 36. A burnerelement 37 is contained within wind guard 35. The upper beams 38 can bevertically extended or ell shaped in cross section so that when thecabinet 11 is placed upon burner frame 31, the upper beams 38 restrictlateral movement of the cabinet 11. Thus the upper beams 38 can bevertically extended flat bars, for example or ell shaped angle barshaving vertical 51 and horizontal 50 sections. If angle bars are usedfor upper beams 38, the cabinet 11 can rest upon the horizontal sectionof the angle bar, wherein the bottom panel 16 of the cabinet 11 engagesthe horizontal portion 50 of the upper beam 38.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an additional embodiment of the apparatus of thepresent invention, designated generally by the numeral 10A. Smokerapparatus 10A in FIGS. 8 and 9 provides a cart 66 that has two burners.One burner can be a burner frame 31 with burner element 37 as with theembodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7. As with the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7,the cabinet 11 nests upon the burner frame 31. FIG. 8 shows the cabinet11 resting upon burner frame 31. FIG. 9 shows the cabinet 11 liftedvertically from frame 31 as indicated by arrow 64.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9, the frame 31 is part of a cart 66.The cart 66 provides a pair of feet 52 and a pair of wheels 53. Theframe 31 is attached to a pair of legs 57 that extend upwardly frombottom shelf 58. Frame 31 can be attached to legs 57 using welding forexample. At a position next to the lower end of frame 31, the cart 66provides bottom shelf 58. At a position near the top of burner frame 31,cart 66 provides middle shelf 59. Above the shelves 58, 59 is providedan upper burner 65 that includes a burner element 60 surrounded by windguard 61, the wind guard being supported by grate members 62. In theembodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9, there can be four grate members 62, eachone extending along a radial line from a leg 54 or 57 toward the centerof burner element 60. Thus, the cart 66 provides an upper burner 65 thatincludes the same basic burner elements as the burner frame 31 of FIGS.6-7 and 8-9. The cart 66 has legs 54 that extend upwardly from feet 52and that connect with burner top 63 and handles 55 as shown in FIGS. 8and 9.

The arrangement of FIGS. 8 and 9 enables a cook to prepare certain fooditems for smoking within cabinet 11 and other food items to be cookedupon upper burner 65 when placed upon burner top 63. Burner top 63 canbe open so that a pot or other item to be used for cooking can be placeddirectly upon grate members 62. Alternatively, burner top 63 can becovered with a mesh or like covering that enables items to be warmed orslow cooked.

The following is a list of parts and materials suitable for use in thepresent invention.

PARTS LIST Part Number Description 10 smoker apparatus 10A smokerapparatus 11 cabinet 12 open front 13 front door 14 vent 15 leg 16bottom panel 17 top panel 18 side panel 19 side panel 20 rear panel 21shelf 22 water pan 23 wood chips pan 24 perforated lid 25 burner element26 fuel supply hose 27 regulator 28 opening 29 slide bracket 30 latch 31burner frame 32 base 33 leg 34 corner 35 wind guard 36 grate 37 burnerelement 38 upper beam 39 control knob 40 side door 41 upper rail 42 panshoulder 43 lower rail 44 bar 45 opening 46 perforation 47 arrow 48arrow 49 cart 50 horizontal section 51 vertical section 52 foot 53 wheel54 leg 55 handle 56 wheel support 57 leg 58 bottom shelf 59 middle shelf60 burner element 61 wind guard 62 grate 63 burner top 64 arrow 65 upperburner 66 cart

All measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature andpressure, at sea level on Earth, unless indicated otherwise. Allmaterials used or intended to be used in a human being arebiocompatible, unless indicated otherwise.

The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; thescope of the present invention is to be limited only by the followingclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A smoker apparatus comprising: a) a smokercabinet having upper and lower end portions, the cabinet having a top, abottom and one or more side walls, a cabinet interior, a main, upperopening below the top and a lower container access opening that is belowthe main, upper opening; b) a plurality of vertically spaced apartshelves mounted within the cabinet interior below the top; c) a cabinetdoor panel below the top that enables access to the shelves, the cabinetdoor panel being attached to a side wall and movable between an openposition that enables access to the shelves via the upper opening and aclosed position that closes the upper opening; d) a heat source that ispositioned next to the lower end portion of the cabinet and below theshelves; e) a pair of containers mounted within the cabinet, saidcontainers both positioned in between the shelves and the heat source;f) one of the containers being a water container for containing water;g) the other of the containers being a wood chips container forcontaining wood chips, wherein the wood chips container is positioned inbetween the water container and the heat source, and wherein the lowercontainer access opening extends above and below said pair ofcontainers; h) supports below the shelves that support the containers,said supports positioned generally in between the heat source and theshelves; i) the lower container access opening covered by a movableaccess panel, the movable access panel being movable between open andclosed positions and the movable access panel providing access to bothsaid containers in the open position; and j) wherein, when the cabinetdoor panel is closed, the lower container access opening is sized andshaped to enable both containers to be removed from the cabinet throughthe lower container access opening.
 2. The smoker apparatus of claim 1wherein the cabinet is generally rectangular, having a plurality of sidewalls and the cabinet door panel is a frontal door panel that defines atleast a part of one of the sides when the cabinet door panel is moved toa closed position.
 3. The smoker apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heatsource is supported by the cabinet below the lower container accessopening.
 4. The smoker apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cabinet has apair of side walls and the movable access panel is positioned at one ofthe side walls.
 5. The smoker apparatus of claim 1 wherein the movableaccess panel is sized and shaped to enable both the containers to besimultaneously removed from the cabinet by laterally sliding bothcontainers completely through the lower container access opening.
 6. Thesmoker apparatus of claim 1 wherein the movable access panel has a widthand a height, and the pair of containers have respectively first andsecond widths, and the width of the lower movable access panel isgreater than both the first and second widths.
 7. The smoker apparatusof claim 6 wherein the pair of containers have respectively first andsecond heights, and the height of the movable access panel is greaterthan the combined first and second heights.
 8. The smoker apparatus ofclaim 6 further comprising a base that supports the heat source.
 9. Asmoker apparatus comprising: a) a smoker cabinet having upper and lowerend portions, the cabinet having a top panel, a bottom panel, a rearwall, a pair of side walls, an interior and a pair of openings, one ofthe openings being a first, upper opening below the top, the otheropening being a second, lower opening that is smaller than the first,upper opening; b) a plurality of vertically spaced apart shelves mountedwithin the cabinet interior; c) the cabinet supporting a movable cabinetdoor panel that can be opened and closed, the cabinet door panelenabling access to the shelves via the first, upper opening when thecabinet door pane is opened; d) a heat source that is positioned next tothe lower end portion of the cabinet and below the shelves; e) a pair ofcontainers mounted within the cabinet below the shelves and above theheat source, each container having a vertical dimension; f) one of thecontainers being a water container for containing water: g) the other ofthe containers being a wood chips container for containing wood chips,wherein the wood chips container is positioned in between the watercontainer and the heat source, and wherein the second, lower openingextends above and below said pair of containers; h) holders that supportthe containers, the holders positioned generally in between the heatsource and the shelves; i) a movable access panel that can be opened orclosed to provide access to the containers; and j) wherein, when thecabinet door panel is closed and when the movable access panel isopened, either container can be moved laterally relative to the cabinetat least a partial distance by moving it laterally from its holder andat least fifty percent partially-through the second, lower opening,thereby enabling a user to add wood chips to the wood chips container orwater to the water container without having to open the cabinet doorpanel.
 10. The smoker apparatus of claim 9 wherein the cabinet isgenerally rectangular, having a plurality of side walls and the cabinetdoor panel is a frontal door that defines one of the sides when the dooris moved to a closed position.
 11. The smoker apparatus of claim 9wherein the heat source is supported by the cabinet next to the loweropening.
 12. The smoker apparatus of claim 9 wherein the cabinet has apair of side walls and the movable access panel is mounted to one of theside walls.
 13. The smoker apparatus of claim 9 wherein the cabinet hasa rear wall and the movable access panel is mounted to the rear wall.14. The smoker apparatus of claim 9 wherein the cabinet has a base. 15.The smoker apparatus of claim 14 wherein the base has multiple legs. 16.The smoker apparatus of claim 14 wherein the base is a frame thatsupports the heat source.
 17. A smoker apparatus comprising: a) a smokercabinet having upper and lower end portions, the cabinet having a top, abottom and a side wall or walls, an interior and a front opening belowthe top that provides access to the interior; b) a plurality ofvertically spaced apart shelves mounted within the cabinet interior; c)a cabinet main door panel that can be opened and closed, enabling accessto the shelves via the front opening when the door panel is opened; d) agaseous fuel supplied heat source that is positioned next to the lowerend portion of the cabinet, the heat source being removably connectableto a source of gaseous fuel; e) a pair of containers mounted within thecabinet below the shelves and above the heat source, each containerhaving a vertical dimension; f) one of the containers being a water panfor containing water, g) the other of the containers being a wood chipscontainer for containing wood chips, wherein the wood chips container ispositioned in between the water container and the heat source; h) one ormore brackets that support the containers, each bracket positionedgenerally in between the heat source and the shelves; i) the cabinethaving a container door opening positioned below the main door panel andextending above and below the pair of containers, the container dooropening having a container access panel that can be opened and closed,the container access panel being positioned to extend lower than thecabinet door; and j) wherein, when the cabinet main door panel isclosed, and the container access panel is opened, either container canbe completely removed laterally from the cabinet by moving it laterallythrough the container door opening.
 18. The smoker apparatus of claim 17wherein the cabinet has a pair of side walls and the container accesspanel is mounted to one of the side walls.
 19. The smoker apparatus ofclaim 17 wherein the container access panel extends to the top of thewater pan.
 20. The smoker apparatus of claim 17 wherein the containeraccess panel extends below the wood chips container.
 21. The smokerapparatus of claim 17 wherein the cabinet is generally rectangularlyshaped in profile, having a plurality of rectangular side walls and thecabinet door is a frontal door that defines one of the side walls whenthe main door panel is moved to a closed position.
 22. The smokerapparatus of claim 17 wherein there are a plurality of said brackets.23. The smoker apparatus of claim 17 wherein separate brackets supporteach of the containers.
 24. The smoker apparatus of claim 23 wherein theconatiner access panel extends above and below the brackets.
 25. Thesmoker apparatus of claim 17 wherein the container access panel is belowat least part of the cabinet door.
 26. A smoker apparatus comprising: a)a smoker cabinet having upper and lower end portions, the cabinet havinga top, a bottom and a side wall or walls, an interior, and a frontopening below the top; b) a plurality of vertically spaced apart shelvesmounted within the cabinet interior; c) a cabinet main door panel thatcan be opened and closed, enabling access to the shelves, the cabinetdoor extending upwardly to a position next to the cabinet top; d) thecabinet having a source of heat located at the lower end portion of thecabinet; e) a pair of containers mounted within the cabinet interiorbelow the shelves and above the source of heat, the containers having acombined vertical dimension: f) one of the containers being a watercontainer for containing water; g) the other of the containers being awood chips container for containing wood chips, wherein the wood chipscontainer is positioned in between the water container and source ofheat, and wherein a lower access opening extends above and below saidpair of containers; h) upper and lower supports that hold the containersincluding an upper support for holding the water container and a lowersupport for holding the wood chips container, the supports positionedgenerally in between the source of heat and the shelves; I) the loweraccess opening covered by an access panel, the access panel extendingvertically the combined vertical dimension that is occupied by thecontainers, the access panel being movable between open and closedpositions; and j) wherein, when the cabinet main door panel is closed,the access panel is sized and shaped to enable either container to beremoved completely laterally from the cabinet by sliding it laterallyupon said supports and through the access opening when the access panelis in the open position.